Mono-monikered director Lemon–who’s made his mark internationally with Buenos Aires production house Rebolucion, which continues to handle him in Latin America–has secured stateside representation, joining Beverly Hills-based Villains.
Over the past year, Lemon has helmed 30-plus spots via Rebolucion in his native Argentina. This body of work included a Unilever Impulse campaign he co-directed with Rebolucion’s Armando Bo for Buenos Aires ad agency Vegaolmosponce. The Impulse commercials–“Train,” “Ring” and “Plane,” which turn classic movie romance on its ear to great comic effect–went on to earn a Silver Lion at the 2007 Cannes International Advertising Festival and the Grand Prix at San Sebastian, among other honors.
Lemon’s reel includes humorous commercials for Aiwa and Coke Zero, as well as a departure from his comedic norm–a visually driven ad for cosmetics client Rexona.
He now comes aboard a Villains’ roster, which consists of directors Mona El Mansouri, David Johnson, Erik Moe and Basil Schlegel.
Villains is under the aegis of executive producers John Marshall and Nancy Osborne. Villains began a new chapter earlier this year with Marshall assuming full ownership of the longstanding company (SHOOT, 1/26) and bringing Osborne on board to help shape the shop and its directorial lineup. Scoring Lemon and looking to break him into the American ad market is a coup for Osborne and Villains.
“After Cannes, I was looking for a U.S. company that had an intimate feel, not a huge impersonal roster,” related Lemon. “I was aware of Villains and its history, and when Nancy opened a dialogue with me, I saw this was what I had been pursuing. This is the kind of place where everyone knows one another, a place of mutual commitment.”
Lemon came up the industry ranks, serving various production stints, including working as an assistant director for the directorial team Peluca (which included noted helmer Luciano Podcaminsky) via Peluca Films, Buenos Aires, before joining Rebolucion in the summer of 2005.
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More